July 1999, Camp Baker

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This year we went to Camp Baker for summer camp. We had 11 scouts, 3 Japanese, and 3 adults: Matt C, Trevor d, Ty F, Ian F, Grant K, Curtis M, David M, Amphil R, Conrad S, Kyle W, and Andy W. There were a group of Japanese students spending a month or so in the USA, and their first stop (for the boys) was Camp Baker. Three of them stayed with us most of the week, and they added a lot to the experience. They were T Shuichi, K Satoru, and M Taiki. The three adults along were Jody F, Dave R, and Don S.

This web page is a little bigger then most. In addition, some of the photos have an extra level of detail. So once you click on the small version of the picture you get an image which more or less fits the web browser. For some of the photos, you can click that image, and get a large photo. You may want to use this large photo if you want to print something on your printer. I didn't put small versions of all of the photos on this page, as that would be more huge then necessary. If you go to look at one of the photos, there are arrows at the bottom which will take you to other photos. You can get to the related photos in that fashion.

Jody also took a set of photos of the Slime Master 2000. This looks like a great project. If it is available at a time when the troop goes to Camp Baker again, I'd encourage any of the scouts who are old enough to participate.

Sunday
On Sunday, we traveled down to Florence to start our summer camp. This was Ian's first scout outing.

One of the hallmarks of Camp Baker was the water tower. The water tank has long since disappeared, but the tower remained. They always had to post signs to keep scouts from climbing the tower. This year, they had converted the water tower into a large climbing structure. One side is vertical with an overhang, the other side is at the same slope as the structure of the tower. They have plans for the other sides and top of the tower as well; we'll see how those plans progress over the coming years. The chapel is down the hill from the dining hall with a nice view of the lake.

The camp presented a campfire, and Darby refused to eat his worm.
Monday
On Monday, the scouts started their rank advancement sessions and merit badge classes. We had a number of the younger scouts spend a fair amount of time in the rank advancement area. # Compass courses seem to be hard to lay out.

Trevor took advantage of the climbing merit badge. He built a harness and spent a fair amount of time working at the tower. A number of the scouts decided to try their hand at Basket Weaving. As that didn't take long to finish, some of those scouts also took the Camping merit badge.

Ian took the Pioneering merit badge which allowed him to practice building structures with rope and poles. Their big project was building a bridge. We had deer running through the camp on a regular basis. There were rumors that the racoons were fierce, and had learned how to get into soda cans. They were not particularly clean about it. We also had the normal selection of squirrels and chipmunks as well. Not as visible, but there were also lots of birds, especially early in the morning as they made their morning calls.

Tuesday
Each day, we had our opening and closing flag ceremonies. This also provided the camp a way to get announcements out to people, and to present awards for special activities which went on the day before. On Tuesday, our three Japanese students came to our campsite. It was interesting attempting to talk to these kids. Some of their English vocabularies weren't very large, and none of us knew any Japanese. However, there is something about fires (and Nintendo) that crosses between the cultures.

One of the buildings contained models of a variety of Pioneering projects. These might give the scouts something to think about for the Scout Show or projects out at the farm. Several of the scouts took the Swimming merit badge. The weather wasn't really ideal for this, but they stuck with it.

On Tuesday, we cooked and ate in our camp site. Jody brought out his flint and steel kit, and everyone (including the Japanese students and some of the staff members) had the opportunity to draw a spark and light the tinder using flint and steel. For dinner we had stew and baked potatos. The potatos came out great, and there were really any leftovers. We invited our camp guide (Chris) down to eat the peach cobbler on the condition that he bring down some ice cream. He came through for us.

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	Sunday On Sunday, we traveled down to Florence to start our summer camp. This was Ian's first scout outing.
	One of the hallmarks of Camp Baker was the water tower. The water tank has long since disappeared, but the tower remained. They always had to post signs to keep scouts from climbing the tower. This year, they had converted the water tower into a large climbing structure. One side is vertical with an overhang, the other side is at the same slope as the structure of the tower. They have plans for the other sides and top of the tower as well; we'll see how those plans progress over the coming years.	The chapel is down the hill from the dining hall with a nice view of the lake.
	The camp presented a campfire, and Darby refused to eat his worm.	Monday On Monday, the scouts started their rank advancement sessions and merit badge classes. We had a number of the younger scouts spend a fair amount of time in the rank advancement area. # Compass courses seem to be hard to lay out.
	Trevor took advantage of the climbing merit badge. He built a harness and spent a fair amount of time working at the tower.	A number of the scouts decided to try their hand at Basket Weaving. As that didn't take long to finish, some of those scouts also took the Camping merit badge.
	Ian took the Pioneering merit badge which allowed him to practice building structures with rope and poles. Their big project was building a bridge.	We had deer running through the camp on a regular basis. There were rumors that the racoons were fierce, and had learned how to get into soda cans. They were not particularly clean about it. We also had the normal selection of squirrels and chipmunks as well. Not as visible, but there were also lots of birds, especially early in the morning as they made their morning calls.
	Tuesday Each day, we had our opening and closing flag ceremonies. This also provided the camp a way to get announcements out to people, and to present awards for special activities which went on the day before.	On Tuesday, our three Japanese students came to our campsite. It was interesting attempting to talk to these kids. Some of their English vocabularies weren't very large, and none of us knew any Japanese. However, there is something about fires (and Nintendo) that crosses between the cultures.
	One of the buildings contained models of a variety of Pioneering projects. These might give the scouts something to think about for the Scout Show or projects out at the farm.	Several of the scouts took the Swimming merit badge. The weather wasn't really ideal for this, but they stuck with it.
	On Tuesday, we cooked and ate in our camp site. Jody brought out his flint and steel kit, and everyone (including the Japanese students and some of the staff members) had the opportunity to draw a spark and light the tinder using flint and steel.	For dinner we had stew and baked potatos. The potatos came out great, and there were really any leftovers. We invited our camp guide (Chris) down to eat the peach cobbler on the condition that he bring down some ice cream. He came through for us.